Now when the third morning came, with a fresh west wind they left the
lofty island. Next, on the opposite side they saw and passed the mouth
of the river Sangarius and the fertile land of the Mariandyni, and the
stream of Lycus and the Anthemoeisian lake; and beneath the breeze the
ropes and all the tackling quivered as they sped onward. During the
night the wind ceased and at dawn they gladly reached the haven of the
Acherusian headland. It rises aloft with steep cliffs, looking towards
the Bithynian sea; and beneath it smooth rocks, ever washed by the sea,
stand rooted firm; and round them the wave rolls and thunders loud, but
above, wide-spreading plane trees grow on the topmost point. And from it
towards the land a hollow glen slopes gradually away, where there is a
cave of Hades overarched by wood and rocks. From here an icy breath,
unceasingly issuing from the chill recess, ever forms a glistening rime
which melts again beneath the midday sun. And never does silence hold
that grim headland, but there is a continual murmur from the sounding
sea and the leaves that quiver in the winds from the cave. And here is
the outfall of the river Acheron which bursts its way through the
headland and falls into the Eastern sea, and a hollow ravine brings it
down from above. In after times the Nisaean Megarians named it
Soönautes[1] when they were about to settle in the land of the
Mariandyni. For indeed the river saved them with their ships when they
were caught in a violent tempest. By this way the heroes took the ship
through[2] the Acherusian headland and came to land over against it as
the wind had just ceased.

[Footnote 1: i.e. Saviour of sailors.]

[Footnote 2: i.e. through the ravine that divides the headland.]

Not long had they come unmarked by Lycus, the lord of that land, and the